1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilet seat lowering devices and more particularly pertains to a new automated toilet seat lowering device for lowering a raised toilet seat after a predetermined amount of time.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of toilet seat lowering devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, toilet seat lowering devices heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,619; U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,444; U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,946; U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,342; U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,411; and U.S. Des. Pat. No. 161 ,108.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new automated toilet seat lowering device. The inventive device includes a motor for rotating a spindle securely attached to a toilet seat. The motor is mechanically coupled to the spindle. The spindle is generally coaxial with hinges hingedly coupling the toilet seat to the toilet. The motor rotates the spindle to lower the toilet seat downward from a raised position. A housing is mountable to a wall. The housing has a front side facing outwardly away from the wall. Control circuitry adapted for actuating the motor, tracking elapsed time and receiving an electrical signal from a sensor is positioned in the housing and electrically coupled to the motor. A sensor for detecting motion is positioned on the front side of the housing is electrically coupled to the control circuitry. The sensor sends electrical signals to the control circuitry when the sensor detects movement. The control circuitry actuates the motor when the control circuitry does not receive a signal from the sensor after predetermined amount of elapsed time.
In these respects, the automated toilet seat lowering device according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of lowering a raised toilet seat after a predetermined amount of time.